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Anne@LittleSproutBooks

About Me

Enjoying the rewards of sharing my love of reading with my children, and hoping to pass some of that joy along to others.
I'm a credentialed teacher who chose to leave the classroom temporarily to enjoy being full-time mom. My boys have crowded bookshelves and I keep a "stash" in the closet of books they have yet to grow into. Library day is a much anticipated treat around here, and bedtime stories always seem to end with, "could we have one more, please?"

I'd love to hear if you've enjoyed the same books we do, or if you know others we might enjoy... so please share!

Amazon suggests:

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Stop Waiting for Perfect

Blogging is one (but certainly not the only) area of my
life that I put off getting started because I want to be sure I do it “just
right.” The scrapbook stalled several years ago… the recipe binder needing
organizing… the child’s closet needing cleaning… the craft… the repair… the
garden… you get the picture. Fear of mistakes is a paralyzing feeling for
adults and children alike, but the truth is, there are few situations that can’t
be overcome by just getting started. Errors are rarely earthshattering and can
often be creatively converted to masterpieces, but they’re hard on the ego.

A Gentle Push

Sometimes what we need is someone we trust to give us a
gentle push (or a swift kick) to get us going. Knowing someone believes in you
helps when you’re having trouble believing in yourself. Last week I was helping
in B’s kindergarten class. The classroom next door had an incubator of chicken
eggs just hatching and I got to take over a few students at a time to see the
chicks. When they returned to the classroom, the teacher asked them to draw
what they saw. They draw people and animals and objects every day on their
reading papers, but for some reason, drawing the chicks they just saw was
mighty intimidating. I walked between the tables to choruses of “I don’t know
how to draw a chick!” and “Can you help me?” While my first instinct was to
respond with, “Just try,” I knew that wasn’t going to get them past the
artistic roadblock of trying to accurately capture a newborn chick in pencil
and crayon. So I appealed to their sense of humor and reminded them that they
did possess some expertise:

“Well, let’s see – chicks have a body and a head, and six
legs, right?” [grumpy “no”s]“Oh no? Well I know they have long tails.” [annoyed “no”s
with a few giggles]“And they also have big sharp teeth I think.”
[exasperated “no”s and eye rolling]

Not baby chick day art, but art,nonetheless.

Once they had to tell me what the chicks looked like
(wings, beaks, feet, eyes) drawing them wasn’t such an enormous task. Were the
drawings perfect portrayals of hours-old chicks? Not really. But they were sure
adorable.

Start Simple

In Peter Reynolds’ The Dot, young Vashti experiences the
same art paralysis. She doesn’t know how to begin. Her encouraging teacher
advises her to make any mark on the paper. In a characteristically immature
move typical of an uncertain artist of any age, she jabs angrily at the paper.
Rather than responding with frustration, the teacher directs her to sign her
mark and proceeds to frame and display it. Inspired by her teacher’s
demonstrative show of confidence, Vashti creates a whole gallery of very
creative dots that become part of a school show. The teacher’s lesson is not
lost on Vashti – she repeats it to a peer who is awestruck at the show. This
book is a lovely story to share with your own child when he or she is feeling
fearful of a new undertaking, to read for yourself when you’re stuck before
you’ve started, or to give as a gift to a special teacher or inspiring person
in your life. We’ll be sharing it with B’s kindergarten teacher for Teacher
Appreciation Week.

Appropriate for preschoolers, primary grades, everyone!

By the way - Teacher Appreciation Week happens to coincide with Children's Book Week this year - hoping to share lots more about the books we're enjoying as the week goes on, but if I don't get the posts up, it's because I'm "perfecting" teacher appreciation gifts - check out the LittleSproutBooks Facebook Page.